The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas to urgently refer allegations that over ₦6.3 billion in constituency project funds may have been diverted, misapplied, or remain unaccounted for to relevant anti-corruption agencies for investigation and possible prosecution.
The organisation also urged the National Assembly leadership to ensure that anyone found culpable is prosecuted where sufficient admissible evidence exists, while all diverted or unaccounted public funds are recovered and returned to the national treasury.
SERAP further demanded the public disclosure of the names of contractors and companies that received constituency project funds but allegedly failed to execute the projects, including details of their shareholders and beneficial owners.
The allegations are contained in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2022 Annual Report, which was published on September 9, 2025.In a letter dated June 27, 2026, signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation described the allegations as a serious breach of public trust and constitutional principles.
According to the letter, “The allegations that over ₦6.3 billion in constituency project funds may have been diverted suggest a grave violation of the public trust, the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended), and international standards.
”SERAP argued that corruption involving constituency project funds continues to hinder economic development, weaken public services, violate social justice, and erode public confidence in political institutions.
The organisation maintained that the National Assembly has a constitutional responsibility to combat corruption and should demonstrate leadership by ensuring allegations involving projects approved by lawmakers are thoroughly investigated.It gave the Senate President and Speaker seven days to act on its demands, warning that it would institute legal proceedings in the public interest if no action is taken within the stipulated period.
According to SERAP, the allegations involve several federal ministries, departments and agencies, including the Environmental Health Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON), the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, Vom, the Federal Polytechnic, Ukana, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), and the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).
The Auditor-General reportedly uncovered multiple cases of payments into private bank accounts, contracts awarded without due process, payments for projects that were never executed, undocumented expenditures, inflated contract values, procurement irregularities, and failures to properly account for public funds. In each instance, the Auditor-General recommended that the affected funds be recovered and remitted to the treasury.
Among the findings, EHORECON allegedly paid over ₦22.9 million into private accounts belonging to members of staff without evidence showing how the money was utilised.
The council was also reported to have awarded consultancy contracts worth more than ₦12 million for modern abattoir projects whose deliverables could not be found.
The report further alleged that EHORECON awarded contracts exceeding ₦404 million to companies with questionable registration profiles, paid more than ₦103 million for undocumented capacity-building programmes, disbursed over ₦656 million for constituency projects without proper authorisation, and paid more than ₦389 million for modern abattoir projects in Kebbi State that were reportedly never executed.
The Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, Vom, was also alleged to have paid over ₦279 million to contractors for youth and women empowerment programmes without supporting documentation.
The institution reportedly paid another ₦279 million as mobilisation fees without adequate records and awarded contracts worth over ₦629 million without evidence of procurement compliance or contractor qualifications.
Similarly, the Federal Polytechnic, Ukana, allegedly paid over ₦407 million as mobilisation fees without proper documentation, disbursed nearly ₦400 million to unqualified contractors, inflated solar power and streetlight contracts by more than ₦192 million, paid over ₦276 million for contracts that were only partially executed, and released ₦50 million for a borehole project that auditors said already existed before the contract was awarded.
The Auditor-General also alleged that NAPTIP irregularly awarded contracts worth over ₦21 million to related companies, paid more than ₦176 million for logistics, consultancy and sensitisation programmes without supporting documents, and fully paid contractors over ₦89 million for solar light installations and ₦4.4 million for classroom renovations that were allegedly never executed.
For NILDS, the report alleged that the institute failed to submit audited financial statements covering the period from 2012 to 2022, failed to remit over ₦15 million in stamp duties, and spent ₦1.6 million without authorisation from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
SERAP argued that these allegations violate Section 15(5) of the Nigerian Constitution, which mandates public institutions to abolish corruption and abuse of office. It also cited the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 and several provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2007, which require transparency, accountability, competitive procurement processes, and criminalise procurement fraud.
The organisation stressed that corruption disproportionately affects poor and vulnerable Nigerians by increasing the cost of accessing healthcare, education, and other essential public services while depriving citizens of development opportunities.
